The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-04-20
IN A POOL OF vITRIoL.
John Rapp's Awful Experience in a
Chemical Factory.
Eronl ~ llncinnnfi Ennmirer.

From the Cincinnati Enquirer.
At the chemical works of Z. GIassel 81
CO., John Rapp, a man about 81 years OF
age, is employed as u helper to the engineer.
There are two large watts on the first floor Of
the establishment One division was about
100 feet long, and the other about 20 feet in
length. The width was 33 feet, and the
depth -. The watts are made of sheet lead.
The liquid vitriol is poured into these large
receptacles, preparatory to being used. Fire
quently the lead springs a leak, which can
only be stopped by plastering the spot with
white lead. Recently the wOrllmen have
had considerable trouble of this kind, and
yesterday there were two serious breaks.
The first occurred early in the afternoon,
and caused great excitement among the EN-
ployes Rapp, with more presence of mind
than the rest, hurried to the leaking cham
Der and stopped the hole with white lead.
About $50 another and more serious break
was discovered. The workmen shouted to
Rapp, who came running Immediately to the
rescue The acid was running over the floor.
AT the time there was only two or three
inches of vitriOl in the larger vat, but the
smaller one contained about : feet. The
two watts were separated by a low lead fence.
Rapp hurriedly put on wooden shoes and
climbed down into the big vat. He found
that it would be impossible to stop the leak
in the usual way, so he shouted for an axe,
which was let down to him. He made his
way to the small fence, his inten-
ton being to cut it. He had made only one
or two slashes when his foot slipped. The
ak slipped from his hand and was thrown
into the big pool of acid Rapp had fallen
over on the led fence, and, as the vttrlol
splashed, a large quantity struck him full in
the face and breast. As he was working
around the hot furnace he wore a woOllen
shirt, and this was unbuttOned and opened.
His face, BODY and uncovered arms were
deluged with the burning fluid The acid
blinded him, and, falling on his knees, he
began to crawl along the bottom Of the big
vat to the steps at the upper end.
The vitriol had iii the meantime eaten off
his wooden shoes, and as he crawled his
hands were buried in the fiery fluid and his
clothing burned off wherever it came in con
tact with the liquid. He CROPPED his way to
the place of exit; where he was assisted by
his fellow workmen Rapp's agony was
frightful when he was taken out of the vat.
He rolled about the floor, and, crazed
with pain, begged for some one to hit him
in the head and kill him. The worknen,
blinded man to go out alone and grope his
way to his home, which is not far
distant. 4 Young doctor from
the Marine Hospital was called,
and covered the scalded man with oil and
saturated cloths. When seen by
reporter last night Rapp was in "a
fearful condition. His eyes were swollen
and closed, and it is very doubtful whether
he will ever see out of them again. His face,
neck, hands and arms were horribly bis
tered, and his chest one mass OF burned
flesh. The pain had somewhat subsidized,
but he was still enduring indescribable tor
ture. Between his groaps from pain he de
scribed with difficulty his terrible expe-
rience in the vat, and harshly blamed his
fellow workmen for the way they had treat
ed him after he had been rescued.